AlphaStation™ 500 Series System Board Upgrade

This document serves as a comprehensive guide for upgrading a Digital AlphaStation 500 Series system by replacing its system board. It is intended for Digital services personnel and authorized self-maintenance customers. The upgrade process involves a detailed 20-step procedure, which begins with powering down the system and disconnecting all external and internal cables. Users are then guided through the removal of various internal components, including PCI cards, storage drives (floppy, CD-ROM), audio and MAU Ethernet cards, memory DIMMs, and system fans, before finally removing the old system board.

The core of the upgrade involves installing the new system board, reattaching the PCI slot adapter to the system fan, connecting the cache fan cable, and then carefully reinstalling all previously removed components and cables in reverse order. The kit supplied for the upgrade typically includes the new system board, EMI gasketing, a PCI card guide, a grounding wrist strap, new AlphaStation model and FCC reclassification labels, and return shipping labels for the old system board. The document emphasizes safety precautions such as wearing a grounded wrist strap and waiting for power supply capacitors to discharge. It also covers FCC classification details and provides a summary listing of all upgrade activities, concluding with instructions for returning the old system board to Digital.